A Vote for Me is a Vote for You

Super Secret Rantings has been nominated for a major award.

So last night I began feverishly going calling everyone I know (in a shameless attempt to garner votes….and fish for compliments). As I worked to garner votes I started to think back on some of the other competitions/ contests I have participated in year's past.

Here are some of the highlights:

1. Fourth of July Jellybean in a jar guessing contest, Age 5

Somehow, amidst all the children at the pool that day, I came closest to guessing the number of jellybeans in the jar. This marked the beginning, and end of my already-shaky grasp on numbers. I peaked too soon.

2. Eighth Grade Student Council Classroom Representative, Age 13

Running for public office was definitely a bold move for me, seeing as I had few allies in the classroom and was not sure I could handle the pressures of the political arena. But behind the glasses and braces, something in my newly-teenaged mind said, “Westchester, you have a future in politics.” So I nominated myself and hoped for the best.

There were three other people running and we had a week to campaign-so I talked up my platform (soda machine in the lunch room + more warm cookies+ friendship bracelets) and when it came time to vote, I confidently wrote my name on the little piece of paper and silently passed it forward-quietly knowing I had a real chance.

After the votes were counted and the winner was announced (coincidently newly-elected Missy would go on to win prom queen) the teacher sadistically allowed all those who had run to see the vote tally. Anxiously I rushed towards the front of the classroom, all the while thinking to myself, “It’s just as well, this way I will still have enough time to watch the Sound of Music and sew Barbie clothes.” But as my eyes scanned the votes it dawned on me that maybe all my worrying had been for naught. Here was the official vote tally:



As you could imagine I was a little surprised that I had only garnered one vote. Not once in the week leading up to the election, or the hours I spent practicing my acceptance speech did I envision that scenario, or that when one of the other losers would ask me if I had voted for myself that I would panic and say, “Oh no, I voted for Missy.”

3. Newsletter Editor for my Charity Group, Age 17

As you can imagine, the crushing loss to Missy in the eight grade had left me a little jaded to the political arena, so it would not be until I was in my late teens that I would run for office again.

I ran unopposed and won in a landslide, the position: Newsletter editor in my Service Club. Coincidently, Missy did not run in that race- but if she had, I would have made more posters and relied a little more heavily on the power of the straight cash bribe.